Summary- the book Ellen Foster is about a young 11-year-old girl who lives with her abusive father, through out the book she flashes back to when she lived with her mama and daddy. Her daddy is an abusive alcoholic who doesn't really care about Ellen. Ellen's mama committed suicide after coming home from the hospital after having surgery; she has been weakened by "romantic [rheumatic] fever" as a child. She took an overdose of her stomach pills and died in her sleep. "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure it out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."(Ellen ch.1) her father was never able to pay for food because he spent all his money on alcohol. When Ellen woke up in the morning she would go into the bathroom where her father was passed out on the floor and she would kick him and tell him to get up and go to his truck, and whenever her mother witnessed this scene she would cry. Ellen realizes at her mothers funeral that she has won because for once her mama shut her daddy up. At Ellen’s new foster home she is able to stay up late reading, without worrying if her daddy is hurting her mama. Her new mama always has food in the house. Dora Ellen’s cousin, Ellen, Nadine Ellen Aunt and daddy, are riding in the car on the was to the funeral, why Nadine flirts with the car driver, Dora wets herself. We are told that Dora does this once or twice a day. Daddy asks if Nadine plans to tell everyone that he did nothing to try to save mama and she says she wont. Ellen wakes up at her new house and smells biscuits her new mama is cooking. She grabs two biscuits and goes out to the pasture to see her horse dolphin, dolphin is the family horse but Ellen loves him as though he was hers. Ellen's Friend Starletta comes to her mother’s funeral, Starletta is an 11-year-old black girl who eats dirt and chews on clay. Ellen's mama's mama comes to the funeral; she is wealthy although wants nothing to do with Ellen. She swears at daddy and storms out of the church. Ellen's new home she is happy and goes for a ride on Dolphin out to the pasture and lies on her back and watches the clouds roll bye. After the funeral her father leaves the house and does not comes back until the next night, Ellen eats the food the ladies from church had given her and her daddy, she eats straight from the bowl. Ellen wears her mother’s clothes because she has outgrown hers and her father will not by her new clothes. Daddy's brothers come over to the house and ask that he sign all of his possessions over to them, every month they leave a envelope full of money in the mail box. Ellen always gets to it before her father and takes money for food, and clothes, and budgets the money, she give the rest to her father to buy alcohol with. Ellen joins girl scouts to get away from her father but by Christmas she gets tired of that. Ellen does not believe in Santa clause and she is glad, but she goes and buys herself a few things from the "colored" store, she knows her Mama's mama is having a big turkey dinner but Ellen has not been invited. Ellen wonders if she should wrap some gifts for her father but he does not come home for Christmas so it does not matter. When Ellen's father finally comes home he has a pack of colored men with him. Ellen hides in her closet until they leave or pass out, but when she comes out she has to do it quick before someone rapes her, her daddy is the only one to sexually adult her, she wiggles out of his arms and runs to Starletta's house in the dark. Ellen stays the night at Starletta's house and when she wakes up she goes and hides in the woods until her Daddy and his friends leave. Ellen’s has five new foster brothers and sisters, she likes them all. Her new mama gives her a bath and does her hair, " I look like a stranger to myself."(Ellen Ch.6). Then she calls her aunt Betsy and asks if she can stay with her, Betsy agrees and tells s Ellen to gather her stuff and she would be there soon. Ellen gets confused when Betsy asks who would be picking her up because Ellen thought she would stay here permently. Ellen locks herself in her room to hide from her father but he still finds his way in at night if she forgets to lock the door. She will not move or breath loudly until he leaves so she not give away her presence. Ellen stays with her art teacher Julia after she finds out about the abuse; her and her husband Roy are hippies who moved up from the south. Roy has a garden in which he fertilizes with chicken manure. Ellen wonders why God made her Daddy that way and that when God made him "God must not have been thinking straight." (Ellen ch. 8). Ellen goes to the movies with Starletta for her birthday, she gets colored pencils and water colored paints, she was very happy with these gifts. Ellen’s father comes to school to yell at Ellen, the police came and arrested him; Ellen goes to live with Julia. When Ellen goes to court the judge orders Ellen to live with mama's mama but she does not want to. Her new mama is very kind to Ellen and they go to church every Sunday with Stella, Francis, and Jo and roger. When they came home they would have a delicious home cooked meal. Ellen thinks that life with her mama's mama will be better but she soon finds out she is wrong and her grandmother does not care about her, Ellen starts to refer to her a the "Damn Witch." (Ellen ch. 10). Mama’s mama makes her sleep in her mother’s old room where she continually sees ghosts. Mama's mama makes her work out in the fields, because she thinks of her as highly as she thinks of the blacks. Ellen continually works in the fields until she is convinced that is colored. While living in her Mama's mama house her father dies of an alcohol-induced aneurysm. When her grandmother tells her this news she slaps her hard across the face and dares her to cry. Although she tries not to a single tear runs down her face and her grandmother tells her she may never cry again. Ellen does not care that her father died. Ellen does not attend her father's funeral, but her uncle Rudolph stops by to deliver the flag that covered his casket, as he had served in the war. Rudolph thought that Ellen should have the flag, but her grandmother is disgusted and burns the flag in wood fire later that night. Ellen’s grandmother becomes very ill and tells Ellen that she must take better care of her then she did with her own mother. Ellen's grandmother has been paying Rudolph to spy on Ellen and her father, they misreport to her grandmother that Ellen is a wild child. As Ellen’s grandmother gets worse she vows not to let her die no matter how cruel she was for she does not want to be responsible for yet another death. Ellen asks why she has been so cruel to her and that she is not her father and her grandmother says " I can see in your face, especially your eyes your father and everything he has done to my daughter." (Mama’s mama ch. 11). She decided to make Ellen pay for this until her dying day for all the pain she has put her daughter through. Ellen's grandmother dies and Ellen hopes it is the last dead person for a while. Ellen and Stella go to school in the morning and Roger cries for Stella because Stella is Rogers mother and Stella is the youngest mother Ellen has ever known. Stella sits in the back of the bus and flirts with the boys Ellen is certain that she lets the boys feel up her shirt but does not want to turn a round to look. Ellen has to go see the school counselor and dreads seeing him because he gets paid for the more problems she has. Ellen changes her last name to Foster so she can have a new beginning with her Foster Family. Ellen calls Betsy and Nadine when her grandmother dies and they fight over who fault the death was and for once it was not Ellen’s fault. When Ellen has to go and live with Nadine and Dora she keeps to herself. When Christmas rolls around all Ellen asks for is some white paper, but hopes to get other surprise gifts. Ellen goes to her soon to be new mama's house and asks to live with her she gives her $166 to live there the New mama refuses the money but says that she could live there anyway. New mama adopts Ellen says " I never thought I would get a new mama for Christmas." (Ellen ch. 15).
I think that this book is on the outstanding book list because it shows the importance of standing up for yourself and believing in your self. We may not all have the same experience as Ellen did but we all need self-confidence to survive. If Ellen would not have stood up to her father and grandmother I do not think she would have lived, because she believed in herself she was able to find a loving and caring family that loved and cared for her.
I would recommend this book to others because it was a excellent book with an excellent message! It was about love, and violence, and finding yourself. Anybody would love this book. It took a little bit to get into but when you hit about the 20th page you could put yourself in Ellen’s shoes. It had so much detail that you could almost picture what was happening in her life. ENJOY!
Summary- the book Ellen Foster is about a young 11-year-old girl who lives with her abusive father, through out the book she flashes back to when she lived with her mama and daddy. Her daddy is an abusive alcoholic who doesn't really care about Ellen. Ellen's mama committed suicide after coming home from the hospital after having surgery; she has been weakened by "romantic [rheumatic] fever" as a child. She took an overdose of her stomach pills and died in her sleep. "When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure it out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy."(Ellen ch.1) her father was never able to pay for food because he spent all his money on alcohol. When Ellen woke up in the morning she would go into the bathroom where her father was passed out on the floor and she would kick him and tell him to get up and go to his truck, and whenever her mother witnessed this scene she would cry. Ellen realizes at her mothers funeral that she has won because for once her mama shut her daddy up. At Ellen’s new foster home she is able to stay up late reading, without worrying if her daddy is hurting her mama. Her new mama always has food in the house. Dora Ellen’s cousin, Ellen, Nadine Ellen Aunt and daddy, are riding in the car on the was to the funeral, why Nadine flirts with the car driver, Dora wets herself. We are told that Dora does this once or twice a day. Daddy asks if Nadine plans to tell everyone that he did nothing to try to save mama and she says she wont. Ellen wakes up at her new house and smells biscuits her new mama is cooking. She grabs two biscuits and goes out to the pasture to see her horse dolphin, dolphin is the family horse but Ellen loves him as though he was hers. Ellen's Friend Starletta comes to her mother’s funeral, Starletta is an 11-year-old black girl who eats dirt and chews on clay. Ellen's mama's mama comes to the funeral; she is wealthy although wants nothing to do with Ellen. She swears at daddy and storms out of the church. Ellen's new home she is happy and goes for a ride on Dolphin out to the pasture and lies on her back and watches the clouds roll bye. After the funeral her father leaves the house and does not comes back until the next night, Ellen eats the food the ladies from church had given her and her daddy, she eats straight from the bowl. Ellen wears her mother’s clothes because she has outgrown hers and her father will not by her new clothes. Daddy's brothers come over to the house and ask that he sign all of his possessions over to them, every month they leave a envelope full of money in the mail box. Ellen always gets to it before her father and takes money for food, and clothes, and budgets the money, she give the rest to her father to buy alcohol with. Ellen joins girl scouts to get away from her father but by Christmas she gets tired of that. Ellen does not believe in Santa clause and she is glad, but she goes and buys herself a few things from the "colored" store, she knows her Mama's mama is having a big turkey dinner but Ellen has not been invited. Ellen wonders if she should wrap some gifts for her father but he does not come home for Christmas so it does not matter. When Ellen's father finally comes home he has a pack of colored men with him. Ellen hides in her closet until they leave or pass out, but when she comes out she has to do it quick before someone rapes her, her daddy is the only one to sexually adult her, she wiggles out of his arms and runs to Starletta's house in the dark. Ellen stays the night at Starletta's house and when she wakes up she goes and hides in the woods until her Daddy and his friends leave. Ellen’s has five new foster brothers and sisters, she likes them all. Her new mama gives her a bath and does her hair, " I look like a stranger to myself."(Ellen Ch.6). Then she calls her aunt Betsy and asks if she can stay with her, Betsy agrees and tells s Ellen to gather her stuff and she would be there soon. Ellen gets confused when Betsy asks who would be picking her up because Ellen thought she would stay here permently. Ellen locks herself in her room to hide from her father but he still finds his way in at night if she forgets to lock the door. She will not move or breath loudly until he leaves so she not give away her presence. Ellen stays with her art teacher Julia after she finds out about the abuse; her and her husband Roy are hippies who moved up from the south. Roy has a garden in which he fertilizes with chicken manure. Ellen wonders why God made her Daddy that way and that when God made him "God must not have been thinking straight." (Ellen ch. 8). Ellen goes to the movies with Starletta for her birthday, she gets colored pencils and water colored paints, she was very happy with these gifts. Ellen’s father comes to school to yell at Ellen, the police came and arrested him; Ellen goes to live with Julia. When Ellen goes to court the judge orders Ellen to live with mama's mama but she does not want to. Her new mama is very kind to Ellen and they go to church every Sunday with Stella, Francis, and Jo and roger. When they came home they would have a delicious home cooked meal. Ellen thinks that life with her mama's mama will be better but she soon finds out she is wrong and her grandmother does not care about her, Ellen starts to refer to her a the "Damn Witch." (Ellen ch. 10). Mama’s mama makes her sleep in her mother’s old room where she continually sees ghosts. Mama's mama makes her work out in the fields, because she thinks of her as highly as she thinks of the blacks. Ellen continually works in the fields until she is convinced that is colored. While living in her Mama's mama house her father dies of an alcohol-induced aneurysm. When her grandmother tells her this news she slaps her hard across the face and dares her to cry. Although she tries not to a single tear runs down her face and her grandmother tells her she may never cry again. Ellen does not care that her father died. Ellen does not attend her father's funeral, but her uncle Rudolph stops by to deliver the flag that covered his casket, as he had served in the war. Rudolph thought that Ellen should have the flag, but her grandmother is disgusted and burns the flag in wood fire later that night. Ellen’s grandmother becomes very ill and tells Ellen that she must take better care of her then she did with her own mother. Ellen's grandmother has been paying Rudolph to spy on Ellen and her father, they misreport to her grandmother that Ellen is a wild child. As Ellen’s grandmother gets worse she vows not to let her die no matter how cruel she was for she does not want to be responsible for yet another death. Ellen asks why she has been so cruel to her and that she is not her father and her grandmother says " I can see in your face, especially your eyes your father and everything he has done to my daughter." (Mama’s mama ch. 11). She decided to make Ellen pay for this until her dying day for all the pain she has put her daughter through. Ellen's grandmother dies and Ellen hopes it is the last dead person for a while. Ellen and Stella go to school in the morning and Roger cries for Stella because Stella is Rogers mother and Stella is the youngest mother Ellen has ever known. Stella sits in the back of the bus and flirts with the boys Ellen is certain that she lets the boys feel up her shirt but does not want to turn a round to look. Ellen has to go see the school counselor and dreads seeing him because he gets paid for the more problems she has. Ellen changes her last name to Foster so she can have a new beginning with her Foster Family. Ellen calls Betsy and Nadine when her grandmother dies and they fight over who fault the death was and for once it was not Ellen’s fault. When Ellen has to go and live with Nadine and Dora she keeps to herself. When Christmas rolls around all Ellen asks for is some white paper, but hopes to get other surprise gifts. Ellen goes to her soon to be new mama's house and asks to live with her she gives her $166 to live there the New mama refuses the money but says that she could live there anyway. New mama adopts Ellen says " I never thought I would get a new mama for Christmas." (Ellen ch. 15).
I think that this book is on the outstanding book list because it shows the importance of standing up for yourself and believing in your self. We may not all have the same experience as Ellen did but we all need self-confidence to survive. If Ellen would not have stood up to her father and grandmother I do not think she would have lived, because she believed in herself she was able to find a loving and caring family that loved and cared for her.
I would recommend this book to others because it was a excellent book with an excellent message! It was about love, and violence, and finding yourself. Anybody would love this book. It took a little bit to get into but when you hit about the 20th page you could put yourself in Ellen’s shoes. It had so much detail that you could almost picture what was happening in her life. ENJOY!